Indurate
by Zinc Nitrate
Summary: Eleven year old Annette is coming home from her vacation when something tragic and unexpected occurs. Annette must grow up fast, as well as face her biggest fears.


Annette stared out the window of the car. She twisted her shoulders and stretched her arms so that they cracked loudly. She had been sitting in her best friend's father's car for almost two hours now. They had been on the road from her friend, Sam's cottage. It had been beautiful there, they did absolutely nothing except talk about there love of boys and assorted desserts (They had both just turned eleven), as well as swimming, tubing, cliff jumping, fishing (though Annette did not join, she felt that the sport was cruel), etc. It was the perfect vacation away from her family for Annette, but she now missed them dearly.

"I can't wait to shower; it's going to feel awesome!" Sam said next to her. The bathroom had been under renovations while they had stayed. Annette grinned at her; she wasn't really in the mood to start conversation. She actually was getting annoyed with her best friend who kept trying to make faces and poke and prod at Annette to get her attention. She sighed and turned her head back to the window, the view had shifted from deep forest to shopping malls and grocery stores.

"I just have to go in here for a minute." Sam's dad boomed as they pulled into a car dealership. Sam's father was a car salesman, the kind that you see with plastic grins and cheesy attire.

It turned out that the minute was actually an hour. But they didn't mind, Annette and Sam had become used to the man's lateness and self-centered thoughts. They passed the time sitting in different cars and walking to the corner store for candy and slushies. The great thing about Sam's father was he was willing to burn money on Sam, due to his divorce from Sam's mother.

They were finally on the road again and it wasn't long till they arrived to Annette's house.

Well, they almost got to Annette's house.

As Sam's father turned onto her street they were instantly stopped by a police officer. Everyone stepped out of the car, there seemed to be a pillar of smoke rising from the end of the street.

"What's going on?" Sam's father asked the police officer.

"I don't have authority to say anything, sir." The police officer spat, obviously ticked off by the crowd of people who had gathered at the blockade.

"But I live here!" Annette shouted, being pushed and shoved by all the people. The officer looked down at her and nodded.

"The tenets are being cared for by the ambulance about halfway down, we had to evacuate everyone." He let Annette through.

She turned to Sam and her father "I'll pick up my stuff later on." Sam nodded and Annette pushed her way through the crowd.

It wasn't far to the first aid area and Annette began searching for her parents. She circled around the ambulance and the tent, but there was no familiar face. Beginning to worry, she asked a nurse tending to someone.

"Have you seen anyone by the name of LeBlanc?"

The nurse looked at her, and then shook her head. Annette was about to ask another question when something caught her eye.

The house that was causing all the commotion was at the end of her street. It would be improper to call it a house, Annette had thought later on, as the thing had been leveled completely. The only thing that seemed to be standing and wasn't on fire was the fireplace. The rest was an inferno.

Rain drops began to fall on the asphalt around Annette's feet. It wasn't the blazing fire or the fire fighter's attempts to put it out that had caught her eye, it was the location.

The house was Annette's house.

The rain began to fall harder now. Someone put a hand on Annette's shoulder; it was the nurse she had talked to earlier. Annette looked up at her.

The nurse looked into her eyes for a moment and nodded to answer to her silent question.

_No survivors._

Lightning ripped across the sky as Annette ran. She ran as fast as she could away from the nurse, from the fire and the firemen. The rain was coming down in buckets now as Annette stopped in the ravine. Her breath was ragged and her throat burned from running. She fell in the mud and sobbed, she sobbed until her eyes were red.

_Harry, Ron went down to breakfast to find Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and Ginny already sitting at the kitchen table. _

Her family was dead, her house was gone, and she had no one left.

_The moment she saw Harry, Ginny accidentally knocked her porridge bowl to the floor with a loud clatter. _

There were two things that Annette had failed to notice before she ran. One, was the enormous green glowing skull with a snake coming out of its mouth that was hovering over her house, and two, a fireman had picked up a letter addressed to Annette earlier from Hogwarts, school of witchcraft and wizardry.

'_Letters from school,' said Mr. Weasley, passing Harry and Ron identical envelopes._

_Second year students will require…_

Annette let out a bloodcurdling scream.


End file.
